Conclusion

Abstract

Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents for personal or monetary gain. Forms of CSEC include child trafficking, child pornography, child prostitution, child sex tourism, and child sex traveling. CSEC is maintained through the supply and demand of children to sexually exploit. The impact of CSEC can be felt both internationally and nationally. In an effort to end the exploitation of children and aid CSEC victims, we have provided professionals with clarified distinctions between various forms of commercialized exploitation, insight into mechanisms of CSEC, and acknowledged trends in typology of victims and offenders. We have further provided primary source case studies to exemplify particularly salient characteristics of both victims and offenders. The actual impact of CSEC is unknown; however, CSEC has proven to be a ubiquitous crime that includes various forms of exploitation, with domestic and international concerns. Offenders target marginalized, disenfranchised, and vulnerable youth for personal and/or financial gain. Victims are intellectually, physically, and socially disadvantaged, thereby minimizing their ability to escape their abuse. Consequently, young victims of commercialized sexual exploitation are entrenched in a system of manipulation, crime, and abuse. Victims who escape are perpetually re-traumatized by the physical, psychological, and material scars well into adulthood. CSEC victims are faceless, nameless, and displaced from society; victims of commercial sexual exploitation are anonymous to the public’s concern and often left forgotten.